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Reproduced below is the
text of an official statement issued by
Tomas
Masaryk acting on behalf of the Czecho-Slovak National Council,
in Washington, D.C., on 27 July 1918.

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Masaryk, who served as
chairman of the Czecho-Slovak National Council, and which campaigned
throughout the war for the creation of an independent Czech state,
emphasised in his statement that Czechoslovak forces currently fighting in
Russia were doing so under the auspices of the Versailles War Council.
In doing so Masaryk further pressed his organisation's claim for official
Allied government recognition.

In September 1918 the U.S.
Secretary of State,
Robert Lansing,
formally acknowledged the status of Czechoslovak forces and
Masaryk's position as prospective head of of a post-war Czech state.
Click here to read the declaration of independence of 18 October
1918.
Click here to read an extract
from Masaryk's address upon re-entering Prague as President in December
1918.

Tomas Masaryk on
Czechoslovak Fighting in Russia, 27 July 1918

There have been so many promising campaigns started in Russia during the last
year of which nothing more is heard that the people in this country watch with a
certain lack of confidence the successes of the Czecho-Slovak forces in Siberia
and Eastern European Russia.

Will they be permanent or will
they come to nothing, as did the ill-fated campaigns of Kornilov, the Don
Cossacks, the various Siberian governments and many others? Can the
Czecho-Slovaks stand their ground, a hundred thousand men among a hundred
million, and are they not themselves talking about withdrawing from Russia?

It is, of course, well known
that the Czecho-Slovaks are not Russians; that they are a well organized and
thoroughly disciplined force recruited from former Austrian soldiers of the
Bohemian and Slovak races, who surrendered to the Russians.

The Czecho-Slovak Army in
Russia was created in order to fight the Germans and the Austrians, and when
Russia deserted the cause of the Allies, arrangements were made by Professor T.
G. Masaryk, President of the Czecho-Slovak National Council and by virtue of
that Commander in Chief of the Czecho-Slovak forces, with the allied
representatives in Russia and also with the Bolsheviki to march the
Czecho-Slovaks out of Russia and take them to the western front.

It should be kept clearly in
mind that occupation of Russian territory or the restoration of an eastern front
was not thought of when these arrangements were made, in February, 1918.
It was due to one of those German blunders, like the one that brought America
into the war, that the Czecho-Slovaks, instead of withdrawing from Russia, are
now in control of Siberia and of considerable territory west of the Urals.

Under pressure of Austrian and
German demands Trotsky tried to disarm the Czecho-Slovaks and put them in prison
camps, with a view of turning them over to the Austrian authorities. The
Czecho-Slovaks, being attacked, had to defend themselves, and as a result found
themselves in control of the greatest portion of the Trans-Siberian Railroad and
the Volga River. They were like Saul, who went to seek his father's asses
and found a kingdom.

Professor Masaryk was by this
time in America, and the Czecho-Slovak leaders, under the changed conditions,
hesitated as to their course of action. The only orders they had were to
take their forces to the Pacific. They had no desire to play policemen in
Russia, and they realized that their position could not be indefinitely
sustained unless they were assured of a steady flow of supplies.

And yet the unparalleled
strategic opportunities which their position gave them made a strong appeal to
their imagination. This seems evident from the fact that, instead of
withdrawing from European Russia, they occupied more cities on the Volga,
stretching out their detachments in the direction of the Murnian Coast.

A week ago Professor Masaryk
received a lengthy cable report from the leader of the Czecho-Slovak forces in
which the following words are found indicative of the present desires of these
men:

In our opinion it is most
desirable and also possible to reconstruct a Russia-Germany front in the
east. We ask for instructions as to whether we should leave for France
or whether we should stay here to fight in Russia by the side of the Allies
and of Russia. The health and spirit of our troops are excellent.

Professor Masaryk has since
then instructed the forces in Siberia to remain there for the present. The
question, however, of staying in Russia or getting out does not depend on the
Czecho-Slovaks alone. That is something which must be decided by the
Allies.

The Czecho-Slovak Army is one
of the allied armies, and it is as much under the orders of the Versailles War
Council as the French or American Army. No doubt the Czecho-Slovak boys in
Russia are anxious to avoid participation in a possible civil war in Russia, but
they realize at the same time that by staying where they are they may be able to
render far greater services, both to Russia and the allied cause, than if they
were transported to France.